Category Archives: Reflections

You’ve most likely noticed that yesterday was #WorldMentalHealthDay Plenty of people are making posts about it, saying the usual “Don’t suffer alone” “Reach out” “It’s OK to talk”. Which is nice. Although rarely as helpful as one might think. What? Isn’t that a tad ungrateful to say? Well, no. Allow me to explain why… As I’ve…

I am angry as hell. Angry that the Leave campaign lied comprehensively, and have gone back on every campaign promise within 48 hours (including no millions weekly to the NHS and no change to EU immigration, etc); Angry that none of the Leave leaders have a clue what to do now – “We don’t have a plan for dealing with Brexit, Number 10 should have done that” –…

On 23rd June 2016 in the EU Referendum, the general populace of the UK will be asked to decide whether the UK should remain a member of the EU or leave the EU. This was the result of an election manifesto commitment from the winning Conservative party ( more on that below ), and since the date was set…

Sit tight, this is going to be a long one! There’s a lot in here, so best get yourself a cup of tea and sit somewhere comfortably. I don’t expect you will agree with all of it; I strongly suspect you will disagree with at least some if not most of it! But at least…

So the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has apparently classified bacon as a highly dangerous cancer-causing menace which must be avoided at all costs, and they are pretty sure all red meat probably also causes cancer in anyone who so much as thinks about it, and therefore in order to have any chance of staying alive we…

“What?”, I hear you cry, “Surely our beloved media can’t possibly be staffed by hypocrites?”. Well, I’m afraid it would appear that they most definitely are, as today’s papers prove. Yesterday there was a service of remembrance for those who fought and died in the Battle of Britain, on the 75th anniversary of same. All…

Tax Avoidance hits the news again as yet another celebrity (in this case Gary Barlow of Take That) has been found using legal schemes to reduce his tax bill, and the full weight of the media and public opinion is being brought down upon him, with demands that he be striped of his OBE (thereby…

I wasn’t going to write anything about this, but why the heck not? It’s a massive day for many people, a day well worth celebrating. For today is the day when it became legal for same-sex couples to get married in England & Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland follow soon). Now I spoke about the…

Friday 7th February 2014 sees the opening of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, where the greatest winter sports athletes from around the world come to compete with each other in a show of tremendous sporting prowess. Given how much I loved my visit to the London 2012 Olympics , you might expect that I’ll be watching this event with equal enthusiasm. I’m boycotting Sochi.…